VIDEO: ‘Where does the money come from?’ West Seattle businesses talk to city councilmembers about light-rail relocation
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The newest proposal for Sound Transit light rail to West Seattle – dropping the Avalon station, which shifts the tunnel portal eastward – would dramatically cut the number of properties ST would have to acquire.
That was a headline from the “roundtable discussion” that took almost an hour and a half of this morning’s meeting of the Transportation, Waterfront, and Seattle Center Committee, chaired by District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka.
ST’s West Seattle project executive Jason Hampton told the committee they’re now calculating that about 100 properties would be displaced by the Avalon-less alignment, which also would include a downsized, shallower Junction station. They don’t have the breakdown of exactly how many businesses and residences that would break down to, Hampton said, but it’s about a third of the 160 residences and 130 businesses the original plan would have displaced.
One thing that’s not changing, though, so far, is the Delridge station site, and two of the small-business proprietors facing almost certain displacement were among the guests for the discussion.
Ounces proprietor Laurel Trujillo said it’s great that ST is able to offer more compensation now but she still envisions a gap between what it really will cost to relocate, and what kind of compensation will be available. “Where does the money come from?”
Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and Mode Music and Performing Arts (nonprofit) proprietor Erin Rubin noted that it’s been a long process and she too remains worried about personal impact – like having to take out loans. She said she was happy to hear that some changes in the ST process mean they’ll be able to directly pay vendors involved in relocation, rather than having the businesses themselves cover everything up front and wait for reimbursement later.
Much of what was described as available to business owners involved consulting rather than cash: Representatives from various city teams, as well as the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, spoke about the ways in which they offer advice and information to help businesses get through the process. (More details are in the slide decks linked to the meeting agenda.)
Some suggestions came during a surprise appearance from County Councilmember and Sound Transit Board member Teresa Mosqueda, returning to the City Council chambers where she served on that body for years. She first recapped (as we reported here) her, and other North King County Sub-Area reps’, commitment to getting light rail to West Seattle and Ballard (plus finishing the Everett-to-Tacoma “spine”). Her suggestions for helping businesses included covering some of the rent that would enable them to stay in their current locations as long as possible, to minimize the number of boarded-up buildings pre-construction, and giving displaced businesses the “right of first (refusal)” to return to their old sites when the new station-area buildings are built there, even knowing that might be five years after a move.
There were no votes taken today; it was acknowledged that the uncertainty has somewhat intensified until the ST Board makes a decision – expected by mid-year – on what to go ahead with building, and how to pay for it.
SIDE NOTE: The issue of who’s involved in these discussions came up toward the start and end of the meeting. In public comment, Jordan Crawley of the Alki Beach Academy – another business that’ll be forced to move because of the Delridge station – accused committee chair Saka of excluding the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, on whose board Crawley serves. Later, there was mention of a letter to that effect that councilmembers had received from the Chamber. We just requested and obtained that letter – see it here – in which the Chamber’s executive director Rachel Porter asks that the organization be included in any future discussions on helping businesses.
